Quick answer
Purchase-order statuses show where inbound stock is in the supplier-to-warehouse journey.
The customer-facing lifecycle is:
Draft → On the way → Arrived → Receiving → Received
A purchase order can also be Cancelled.
Receiving begins after the purchase order is marked Arrived.
Draft
A newly created purchase order starts as Draft.
At this stage, the PO has been created but has not yet been marked as sent to the supplier.
Review the supplier, Shopify-linked products, quantities, and other PO information before advancing it.
Available actions include Prepare to send, Mark as sent, and Cancel PO.
Prepare to send opens copy you can send to the supplier. The PO does not leave Draft until you choose Mark as sent.
On the way
On the way means the purchase order has moved beyond Draft and is active with the supplier.
LaSyncro groups supplier-side progress under this customer-facing label.
Available actions include Mark as arrived and Cancel PO.
Use Mark as arrived when the shipment is ready to be handed to receiving.
Arrived
Arrived is the key handoff into receiving.
Once the PO is Arrived, you can choose Receive via WMS to start or open the receive workflow for that purchase order.
Marking a PO as Arrived does not itself receive the stock or add inventory.
The receive job must still be processed.
Receiving
Receiving means some ordered stock has been accepted through receiving, but the entire purchase order has not yet been received.
For example, this can occur with a partial delivery.
Use Receive via WMS again when more stock arrives for the same PO.
Received
A PO becomes Received when the ordered quantities have been fully received.
Accepted quantities recorded during receiving determine the received progress of each PO line.
Received purchase orders no longer show the normal open-PO action buttons.
Cancelled
Cancelled is used when the purchase order is no longer continuing through the inbound workflow.
Cancelled purchase orders do not proceed to normal receiving.
Cancelled purchase orders no longer show the normal open-PO action buttons.
When can receiving begin?
A PO must reach Arrived before its WMS receive job is created.
Starting receiving is an explicit action.
The sequence is:
Arrived PO → Receive via WMS → Inspect or scan stock → Close receiving → Create stow tasks
This preserves the distinction between stock expected from a supplier and stock that has physically arrived and been accepted into the warehouse.
Who manages PO statuses
Purchase-order status management is intended for owners and admins.
Operators work with the downstream warehouse tasks rather than managing the purchase-order lifecycle.